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JAZMIN BEAN
Born and raised in North London, Jazmin Bean (they/them) has set a towering bar for modern pop music, not only as a singer-songwriter but as a multimedia artist. Playing with the friction between vulnerability and persona, nightmare and fantasy, trauma and recovery, the multi?faceted performer invites listeners into their unparalleled universe of alternative, infectious pop.
Inspired by the films of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman’s theatrical scores, Bean’s relentless approach to pop innovation began aged 15 while studying for their GCSEs. “As a film student, I had all these visual ideas that I wanted to explore alongside my songwriting. I was already making my own soundtracks, experimenting with fashion and had a following on Instagram [prior to music, Bean posted ‘extreme’ makeup looks online], so I decided to do it all myself without a label.”
Bean’s breakthrough debut single, ‘Worldwide Torture’, launched independently on YouTube in 2019, with an anthropomorphic self-directed, self-funded music video created with just £500. Since its release, the grassroots track has racked up an impressive 5.5 million views on the platform, cementing Bean’s status as a non-binary pop pioneer.
Building on the growing online hype, Bean released a gore-tinged video for the sickly sweet single ‘Saccharine’ that same year, a distorted nursery rhyme about unrequited love that takes unsettling and relatable visual queues from past experiences and horror culture. “I’ve always been interested in death; it’s very visually appealing to me, especially in that era of my music,” says Bean. “There’s something cathartic about blood and the emotional imagery it can create.” The follow-up single exploded Bean into the limelight as a next-wave artist to watch with industry insiders and has garnered 66 million views on YouTube and counting.
In 2020, Bean released their debut independent EP, Worldwide Torture; a collaboration with up-and-coming producers Dougal Drummond and Jessica Winter. The confident and assured five-track record balances hard-as-nails lyricism with dreamlike breaks, melodic pop choruses and trap metal inflections. “Worldwide Torture was me saying, ‘I’m here, I exist, and this is what you need to know about me as an artist’,” Bean affirms. “It was an amazing introduction to my music. I wanted to be as shocking as possible, to be an ‘edge lord’ and to get people’s attention - which I did.” The EP was an instant hit with fans and critics alike, achieving over 588 million streams globally. The Worldwide Torture EP was later reissued by Island and Interscope Records in November 2020 with six additional tracks.
Otherworldly music videos for the blistering ‘Yandere’, anthemic ‘Hello Kitty’ and punishing ‘Princess Castle’ - the latter, a collaboration with drag artist Cottontail - yielded a similar viral effect. To date, Bean has amassed over half a billion streams, and after a short run of sold out intimate London gigs in 2021, they performed at Reading Festival’s Pit Stage to a packed audience. The Sun named Jazmin the standout performance of the festival, while their ever- growing online fandom has also earned press nods from VOGUE, NME, Clash, Wonderland, Dazed, DIY and PAPER.
Reflecting on the artistry in their debut body of work, Bean says that the bratty, blood-soaked persona they adopted during the EP promo was a deliberate way of armouring themselves against difficult life experiences. “I’m very proud of the younger me; I was going through a lot that I wasn’t ready to talk about, so I made this big, strong character that could kill people instead. I wouldn’t say I hid behind it, but it was a great way of coping during that time of my life.”
In the summer of 2022, Bean revealed to their combined social media following of three million fans that they’d undergone rehab for drug addiction and, following treatment, were on the road to recovery. They have also been candid about their experiences with trauma from sexual abuse. “I did a lot of healing after rehab about things that I had never really gotten to the bottom of,” says Bean. “Since then, I've really grown out of the sad and angry music I was writing.”
Bean’s creative process has long used music, makeup and fashion as an outlet for teenage trauma, but now one year clean, they’re writing from a place of healing. “I've been creating music with awareness since rehab. I’ve been writing sad music for 10 years now, and I don’t want to trauma bond with my fans. Now I'm trying to channel everything that hurts me through beauty and joy.”
After teasing snippets through Instagram and TikTok, Bean released the defiant ‘Carnage’ featuring pop artist Lucy Loone in late 2022, along with a futuristic music video directed by Shan Phearon in collaboration with Bean. In 2023, the fan favourite Acoustic Church Session EP was released, containing stripped-back versions of ‘Carnage’, ‘Little Lamb’, ‘Yandere’ and ‘Saccharine’, plus a bittersweet cover of ‘Teen Idle’ by MARINA.
Later that year, Bean embarked on a sold out US, UK and EU headline tour, selling over 7,000 tickets in the US alone. Capitalising on the momentum of their growing fanbase, which includes over 1 million followers on TikTok, Bean headlined Spotify’s Misfits Ball 2.0 ball in London and appeared on the cover of Kerrang’s October issue. Their electrifying performances at Great Escape and Download garnered critical acclaim, leading to recognition as People magazine’s emerging artist for winter 2023.
In 2024, Bean unveiled their highly anticipated debut album, Traumatic Livelihood along with focus track ‘sh*t Show’. Traumatic Livelihood’ takes listeners on a journey through Jazmin's evocative storytelling and explores the complexities of life through their lens. It reflects their mastery in blending genres, pushing boundaries, and creating a sonic landscape that is both captivating and thought-provoking.
Bean says: “This album is an amalgamation of reflections, stories and feelings glued together by cinematics and all the things I love about music. I wrote it in a time of healing and I hope people can do the same with it and it’s a body of work I’ll always hold very dear to my heart. I’m so excited the world gets to have it now.”
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